Imagine trying to eliminate COVID-19 without knowing how many cases there are in Australia.
Key points:
- Experts are concerned suicide risk will rise during the coronavirus pandemic
- The Federal Government's suicide register is due to be ready in 2022
- Suicide is a leading cause of death for people aged between 15 and 44
Many mental health advocates and non-profit organisations say that's the situation they're currently in, as they try to reduce suicide rates while relying on old figures.
About 3,000 people die by suicide in Australia each year.
But one of the nation's pre-eminent mental health advocates, Professor Pat McGorry, said it was difficult to try to reduce the death rate, because suicide statistics come with a lag time of up to two years.
That's because in cases of suspected suicides, a cause of death can't be officially confirmed until a coroner completes an often-lengthy investigation process.
"It's a bit like lights coming from distant stars: it's reflecting the past not the current reality. Of course, that's not much use in responding to suicide," Professor McGorry said.
"We need to know in real time where the deaths are occurring, because there's also a contagion factor with suicide just like there is with infectious disease."
The Coronavirus pandemic is making things worse, with mental health support groups inundated by record cries for help.
Calls to Lifeline are up by 25 per cent on last year, while Beyond Blue has seen a 40 per cent leap in calls since before the pandemic.
Professor McGorry said as a result, timely suicide data was needed now more than ever.
"I think a crisis like COVID-19 means we really need to get this happening soon because there will be a surge in suicide risk in the coming months."
Advocates like Professor McGorry want access to "real-time" data, from first responders like police officers who make an initial judgement about a cause of death on the scene.
That would be transferred to a national suicide register, linking data from ambulance crews, hospital emergency departments and police.
How could this data be used?
Once health advocates and authorities have more up-to-date suicide statistics, they can be used to direct resources and mobilise services to help prevent further deaths.
People who are linked to a suicide are more at risk themselves, so mental health groups often try to connect with people who knew someone who took their own life.
Orygen's Head of Suicide Prevention Jo Robinson said one of the interventions available is specifically targeting content at young people affected by a suicide on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat.
To keep the COVID-19 outbreak under control we need to keep growth factor below 1.0
"We'd be able to send supportive messages via social media platforms to young people who might have been connected with that person, helping them talk about that suicide in a safe and supportive way, helping direct them to appropriate services and support," Dr Robinson said.
"We know young people exposed to the death of a friend or a peer are at increased risk themselves."
The real-time benefits of real-time data are currently being harnessed by another youth mental health service, Headspace.
When there has been a suicide in a school, it sends in a team to help teachers and students recover.
Headspace CEO Jason Trethowan said that not only helps the school community grieve, it also allows mental health professionals to identify any other young people who may be at risk, preventing possible suicide clusters.
"The intention there is to acknowledge that's what's happening and be able to talk about it rather than absorb those feelings.
He said that could be applied more broadly to other parts of the community, like universities and workplaces.
"We've noticed a major gap when it comes to supporting the universities when they too unfortunately experience a loss of life of a student or a significant member of their university community. We know that workplaces are left not knowing what to do, how to respond, when they too lose someone to suicide.
'It was the first thing on my desk': Government's suicide adviser
The Federal Government commissioned a national suicide register in 2019, and it's due to be completed by 2022.
The Government's suicide adviser, and CEO of the National Mental Health Commission, Christine Morgan, said the urgency for a national suicide register was there long before COVID-19.
"When I started with the commission [in July 2019], the very first thing on my desk was data collection for suicide prevention," she said.
"It has been an issue for so long because suicide prevention is one of the most challenging areas to understand. We know certain things, we know certain risk factors, we know certain vulnerabilities, but you can't predict, you can't predict, and so data is really the place we do want to go."
But she said while work on the register was underway, there were several challenges.
"We are very much on track with the project being completed, and there will be a public facing website and that will be going into testing in the very short term, and then there will be sitting behind it, a significant amount of data.
"One of the issues we need to properly address is who gets access to that data? Under what circumstances? And for what reasons?
"So, that's not something we're going to answer too quickly."
But Professor McGorry urged the commission to sort those issues out as soon as possible.
"We want to flatten that curve, and this is one of the strategies that would help us to do that."
The Prime Minister has asked the National Mental Health Commission to devise a pandemic plan, which will model the mental health impacts of the coronavirus in stages: now, when restrictions are eased, and in the long term.
The Mental Health Commission is due to present that plan to National Cabinet on Friday.
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